The Real Deal New York

A Trader Joe’s location at 142 East 14th Street (Credit: Wikipedia and Pixabay)

Who knew the grocery business could be so full of intrigue?

Trader Joe’s is working on a huge, under-wraps deal at the Park Imperial condo building at West 55th Street and Broadway, the New York Post reported.

“They’re keeping it secret because they want to take [competitor] Whole Foods by surprise,” a source told the Post.

The deal will reportedly also include a seven-story former garage next door. “They had to explain to garage users why they were losing their garage,” a source told the Post. “But everyone involved had to sign a tough nondisclosure agreement.”

The location is just a few blocks south of the Whole Foods megastore at Time Warner Center.

“We are very interested in the Broadway location but that is all of the information there is to share or confirm at this time,” a representative for Trader Joe’s told the Post in a email.

Trader Joe’s has 11 other locations in the city, and recently announced that it was shutting down delivery services from its Manhattan stores (its outer borough stores have never offered delivery). [NYP]— Kevin Sun